This is Murder in the Morning with Tony Bruske and Stacey Cole.

Sean Dedy Combs made one of the biggest gambles really of his life.

He's officially turned down a plea deal and is heading into a full federal trial,

facing some of the most serious charges.

A public figure can confront.

Diddy is now literally days away from opening statements in a case that will dissect

decades of alleged behavior involving sex trafficking, racketeering, and prostitution.

All under the unforgiving scrutiny of the U.S. criminal justice system.

The final pretrial conference took place May 1st in Manhattan's Daniel Patrick Moynihan Courthouse.

There, Judge Aaron Submaranian met with federal prosecutors and Combs' legal team to iron out last minute trial logistics, jury questionnaires, the presence of expert witnesses, and Combs' own desire to be present during jury selection.

But the most pivotal moment came when the court officially recorded that Diddy rejected a deal that would have

almost certainly landed him less time than a guilty verdict ever could. Combs has been behind bars

since September 16th of 2024 after being denied bail multiple times. He's currently held in the

Metropolitan Detention Center Special Housing Unit in Brooklyn,

a high-security wing that also houses alleged white-collar criminals like Sam Bakeman-Fried and Luigi

Mangione. The trial begins May 5th with jury selection where attorneys on both sides are racing to get

45 qualified jurors within three days.

Opening statements are scheduled for May 12th.

They're never going to make that deadline. Are you kidding me?

45 qualified jurors in Brooklyn.

That have never, I mean, what's going to be their criteria that, okay, you've heard of Diddy, you haven't heard of Diddy.

You heard of what Diddy did?

...